ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router + 500GB Western Digital Elements USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $170 + Free Shipping

Also currently using the RT-N16. Think I'm gonna hold off for a 802.11ac router.

Quote from The Debater : Very tempted. Is this worth upgrading from the RT-N16?

it was a good upgrade for me from n16. Installing a 5GHz adapter in my laptop resulted in roughly doubling my wireless transfer speeds. The 2.4 band it very good too. The radio(s) is much better in the 66U in my experience. Everything feels quick.

what's up with these $200 priced routers, since when have we started feeding this trend to the manufacturers... half the price of a laptop/tablet but with a lot less functionality. In fact, most of us dont even use the stock firmware.


Its time to go back to when we could buy the best (tomato/dd-wrt flashable) routers for $100 or less.
~S

Quote from rekkit : I wish I could just get the router minus the $59 that the hard drive costs.

Quote from SDRockz : what's up with these $200 priced routers, since when have we started feeding this trend to the manufacturers... half the price of a laptop/tablet but with a lot less functionality. In fact, most of us dont even use the stock firmware. Its time to go back to when we could buy the best (tomato/dd-wrt flashable) routers for $100 or less. ~S

Agreed. I'm in need for a new router, since my Netgear WNR3500 (v1) is consistently disconnecting/restarting and wireless just stops working.
However, I'm having a hard time justifying a puchasing a $150 router. The RT-N66U is a fantastic router, but it's just painful to spend this much on a router when a few generations ago you could get workhorses like the WRT54GL for sub-$100.

On the fence right now. Have a RT-N16 at the moment. Thinking of this or the RT-AC66U for $30, but it has no Tomato support.

Quote from blazah : On the fence right now. Have a RT-N16 at the moment. Thinking of this or the RT-AC66U for $30, but it has no Tomato support.

What's the reasoning behind installing Tomato on the Asus? I thought Asus' new firmware has pretty good stability?

Quote from SDRockz : what's up with these $200 priced routers, since when have we started feeding this trend to the manufacturers... half the price of a laptop/tablet but with a lot less functionality. In fact, most of us dont even use the stock firmware. Its time to go back to when we could buy the best (tomato/dd-wrt flashable) routers for $100 or less. ~S

no idea. my best router cost me $40, and the rest are like $15 each.

Quote from index : What's the reasoning behind installing Tomato on the Asus? I thought Asus' new firmware has pretty good stability?

Tomato features I always use are the QOS and the Access Restrictions. This helps a lot with teenagers in the house.

This router was going for $129.99 a few times last year.

I'm waiting for the RT-AC66U to go for $149.99 again.

Quote from fyu : no idea. my best router cost me $40, and the rest are like $15 each.

I am not a early adopter when it comes to router technology, so I never paid over $100 for a router. My current router is a buffalo N300 which only cost me $50. Before I got that router, I ran 100-200 feet of Ethernet cable through out my house. I want a new N900 but I am not paying over $100 for it. I do look for name brand/price/performance when I pick up routers. So while this is a good deal for some ill wait a bit more. After AC goes standard these should be dropping to under $100.

Quote from blazah : Tomato features I always use are the QOS and the Access Restrictions. This helps a lot with teenagers in the house.

Ah, makes sense.

I've been on the hunt for a replacement of my Asus WL-520gU workhorse. I also happen to be in the market for an external drive. I'm not willing to wait for the 802.11ac standard to finalize in late 2013, so this deal is a perfect fit. Thanks!!

What's the limit for ip address on this router? I have a trendnet and it only allows 24 max. I have lots of stuff using mac address for access restriction.

Quote from chris83190 : is there much performance gain from switching over from the verizion fios actiontec router to this asus rt-n66u?

Yes, the wireless range/power on the Asus is one of the most noticable improvements over competing routers.

Based on the recent $150 price that this router has gone on sale before, you're essentially getting the hard drive for $20.